hey guys...My friend was on a Sun Country flight from MKE-MSP-LAX and back and she took some pictures for me.
In one of the pictures, there is a Rhoades Convair 680. I believe the plane is a cargo plane (no windows and parked next to a few cargo aircraft).
I believe she took the picture at MKE...then again I am not too sure since I dont know what MKE looks like All I see is a few planes...nothing that I could use to tell if it was MKE or MSP.

Can you guys tell me a bit more about Rhoades? Who are they? and where do they work?

hello winair -
n587ca - i know that aircraft. the picture you saw was taken at mke. i have fueled that aircraft before when i worked for signature flight support at mke. i don't know a whole lot about rhoades as a company, but i can tell you that they operate mainly charter freight operations. that particular a/c flies a route for dhl - however i cannot remember where it goes. interestingly enough, about a year ago rhoades bought a bunch of kitty hawk's old convair's and a few of the rhoades people i spoke with seemed a little too excited to be buying someone else's old hand-me-down aircraft!!
oh well - saved them from becoming cans of miller genuine draft!!

There is no such thing as a CVR-680 . I flew CVR 580s for several years. What you saw was a CVR-640 powered by RR Darts. The 580s are Allison powered, and the older 240/440s are piston driven

Rhoades CVR 440s and 640s are regular visitors to the cargo ramp at MKE right next to YX's maintenance hangar (as well as an occasional ZANTOP Electra!!)

Enough on that. Rhoades is based out of Indiana and subcontracts to some of the bigger box haulers. One of my friends who now sits sideways on DC-8s for UPS flew for Rhoades and spent a year in Africa on a contract they had there. They didn't pay a whole lot, but he built up a lot of hours and loved the experience.

The CVRs are real rugged aircraft and are economical cargo haulers--they serve their purpose well. I am trying to find some old photos I have of Rhoades and Zantop and will try to post those on the board here.

Another company that flies into MKE from time to time is Air Tahoma who fly Convair 580's on contract work for bigger freight companies. The Convair 580 is the plane you want to see not that sissy underpower CVR-640. The CVR-580 is a real rugged and reliable aircraft, with thoes Allison engine its a power horse. And still flying with many companies across the world

Long Live the Convair 580

The right decision at the wrong time, is still a wrong decision. "Hal Carr"

Another Convair to look for is the CVR-5800 Stretch this is like a MD-80 of Convairs plus its a 35+year old plane with a state of the art flight deck with all the latest little gadgets. I know Contract Air Cargo flies a few of them all around the country flying carparts for GM.

Rhoades is also flying a CVR-640 Mon-Sat out of IND for the Poastal Hub not sure of where it flies to thought. I think the CVR-640's they bought from Kitty Hawk are replacing the older 440's???

The right decision at the wrong time, is still a wrong decision. "Hal Carr"